Come Back

■

8 a.m. It was usually the time when Jo Seong-hyeon would start his day by swimming at the fitness club of the Knox Hotel, where he had been a member for several years. Although he enjoyed a variety of exercise, he did not prefer outdoor activities. Among them, golf, which was relatively static and close to social exercise, was especially not to Jo Seong-hyeon’s taste.

Still, the reason I was at the golf course clubhouse early in the morning, braving the December cold, was to entertain.

“Winter rounds have their own charm. Don’t you think so, Mr. Cho?”

“Yes, sir. The harsher the environment, the greater the sense of conquest.”

“As expected. As expected of a self-made man, President Cho also enjoys challenges. A true golfer should know how to enjoy winter rounds. Why should he just stay at a screen golf course because it’s cold?”

An old man with half-bald gray hair standing at the entrance nodded his head, satisfied with Jo Seong-hyeon’s answer.

The man was the central figure at today’s reception.

The selection of the implementation company for the large-scale land development and redevelopment project , which the Korea Land Development Corporation (GX) 1) signed agreements with the governments of four North African countries, was scheduled to take place early next year.

Park Yong-hoon was the president of GX, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that he had the authority to select the event organizer. And Jo Seong-hyeon had to win this business right no matter what.

The chairman of JS Construction even called Jo Seong-hyeon to a separate dinner and emphasized the importance of this project. The chairman, who had been nagging at the company for several years about the sluggish growth rate, finally got angry and told him to be prepared to take off his clothes if he failed to secure the project rights.

Recently, the construction industry in Korea has not been as active as it used to be. This is a common phenomenon in countries that have achieved a certain level of economic growth. However, the chairman insisted on increasing the growth rate unconditionally, citing the incompetence of the management as the reason.

This is why those who are born with a diamond spoon in their mouths are no good… Damn, those who don’t even know the basics of business, they just strangle you and bark orders and when they get results, they think that’s their ability.

Although he was gritting his teeth, Jo Seong-hyeon had no choice but to put effort into GX’s Park Yong-hoon. After entertaining GX’s overseas business division head for two months, he finally managed to arrange a meeting with Park Yong-hoon, and today was the third time. Since Park Yong-hoon was into golf, all three of those meetings were golf meetings.

Wouldn’t it be better if he was an inspiration who could illuminate the spiritual world?

Jo Seong-hyeon was dying from the thought of eating galbitang at the golf course clubhouse from early in the morning, as it didn’t suit his personality.

“Sir, this… This North African business. President Cho is the right person for many reasons. He has been in charge of the overseas business division at JS for a long time, and…”

After collecting tens of millions of won, the head of the headquarters who had arranged a meeting with President Park Yong-hoon secretly brought up the main topic. If the matter went well, he had promised to receive an additional 20 million won, so the head of the headquarters had no choice but to actively participate.

“The chief came out of the round and talked about work? I think he said he was considering it.”

However, President Park Yong-hoon immediately frowned and expressed his discomfort.

He was a man who would not budge even with just a round of hospitality. He was insensitive to sex, but his father-in-law was sensitive to money. Given the scale of the business, he would not budge even with 100 or 200 million won. If he spent 500 million won, it would be about 1/6 of his annual salary, but there was no way. He couldn’t step down from his position as CEO of JS Construction because he was afraid of losing 500 million won.

Plus, since it would soon bring in some salty side income, it could be considered an investment to that extent.

Jo Seong-hyeon thought of the data on Yoon Hye-an that was stored on his hard drive and cell phone. Just thinking about them made him full even without eating.

Thanks to those materials, I didn’t even need to force a smile when I saw President Park Yong-hoon’s disgusting face, thinking about insulting Lee Hae-seong and extorting a lot of money from him. I just laughed.

“Yes, Chief. Do you have any urgent matters to discuss outside like this? Should we head downstairs now?”

“Yeah. I feel a little better after eating a hearty meal.”

“They say that even though the temperature is low today, the greens aren’t that frozen because the sun is out.”

“So what if it’s freezing? I’ve shot 90 on a snow-covered field in minus five degrees.”

“Oh, yes, sir. I heard that too! You’re really amazing!”

Jo Sung-hyun’s face was almost cramping because he had to keep a smile on his face the whole time to please Park Yong-hoon. But it was worth persevering. If he failed to win the business rights, he would have to take off his clothes, which also meant that if he succeeded in winning the business rights, his position in the company would become more solid.

When I went down to the start house, the cart I was going to use today was waiting.

“Sir, I heard that they sell oden at the cafe on the first floor. You’ve already eaten, but should I prepare some soup so you can enjoy it hot?”

“Odeng? President Cho, you’ve learned so much, you’re saying that Odeng is something?”

When the current First Vice Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, who was one of the group members and a close associate of Park Yong-hoon, clicked his tongue and pointed out this, President Park Yong-hoon shook his head and took Jo Seong-hyeon’s side.

“No, no. For old-timers like me, you have to say ‘odeng’ to get it to stick in your mouth. If you say ‘eomuk’, it just doesn’t taste as good.”

Of course, Jo Seong-hyeon calculated it and said it.

“As expected, President Cho is a self-made man like me, so we can relate to each other. Eating a skewer of oden outside in this weather is really good. President Cho is surprisingly good at taking care of these little things.”

While the group was warming up on the practice green, Jo Sung-hyun left with his secretary to buy fish cakes. Normally, there would be no reason for him to do something like this himself, but in order to look good to someone like Park Yong-hoon, it was important to show that he was taking the initiative, even in the smallest details.

While his secretary was ordering fish cakes at the cafe inside the golf course start house, Jo Seong-hyeon muttered curses while looking out the window at Park Yong-hoon’s gang.

“What the hell is wrong with you, old lady? Where did you get the idea to lump me together with a bunch of idiots? I was born to parents who farmed in the countryside.”

Unlike CEO Park Yong-hoon, who was a self-made man but was from a small town in the countryside, Jo Sung-hyun was a typical Gangnam kid. He did not come from a family of doctors who owned a general hospital or a powerful family that produced high-ranking officials for generations. His grandfather moved to Gangnam early because he was in the trend and made a fortune in real estate, and thanks to that, Jo Sung-hyun’s father grew up in wealth and studied enough to retire with a position similar to that of a manager at a large company.

Jo Seong-hyeon also grew up without any lack, but his family environment was extremely ordinary during his growth process. Even while he was on the road to success with his rapid promotion, Jo Seong-hyeon only benefited from his seniors from prestigious universities, and never from his parents or family.

At the same time that he despised the so-called diamond spoon people, Jo Sung-hyun’s consciousness was based on ridicule and contempt for ordinary people like President Park Yong-hoon.

Jo Sung-hyun, who was chewing on Park Yong-hoon, who was practicing putting while surrounded by his fawning aides, took out his cell phone and called the number saved as ‘Romeo’.

[yes.]

The phone connected before it rang two or three times. It was beating.

“Stay tuned today. I’ll stop by.”

[What time is it? I have an acting lesson today…]

Jo Seong-hyeon, who was already feeling down, gritted his teeth and glared.

“What did you eat wrong? Will it end at 12, or 4, or will it end with drinks at dinner? Do I have to plan all that and report it to you? Can’t you just cancel your lesson and wait? Dong-ha, you’re already in a shitty mood right now, do you want me to make it even rougher today?”

[No, no. I, I’ll cancel. I’ll cancel the lesson and stay home.]

Jo Seong-hyeon ended the call, feeling a small sense of satisfaction at the voice that was full of fear.

Canceling the casting of a drama that was almost finished as the lead role and forcing him out of the officetel where he was currently living were effective in making Park Dong-ha listen, but the most effective thing was still a video.

After watching the video that Jo Seong-hyeon had, Park Dong-han became a very gentle dog. It was fortunate that he didn’t pee on the floor. Like other children have done so far.

It was a good choice to make Yoon Hye-an see the scene where she is scared. It is necessary to make it clear that threats do not end in words.

The secretary brought a tray of fish cakes in front of Jo Seong-hyeon, who was raising the corners of his mouth with a bloody smile.

“Boss, the fish cake is here.”

“I’ll give it to Park Yong-hoon and Kang Min-wook, so you take the position of head of the headquarters.”

“all right.”

I left the cafe holding a generously sized, thick paper cup filled with fish cake and soup.

“Here comes the odeng. It’s more filling than I thought. It’s hot, so be careful.”

“This isn’t the old-fashioned Odeng. It looks neat, but it doesn’t taste like the food I used to eat when I was young. Why did it taste like that in the old days…”

While I was listening to Park Yong-hoon’s old story with one ear and letting it out the other, I felt a vibration in my jumper pocket. It wasn’t the official cell phone that my secretary was carrying, but the personal cell phone of Jo Seong-hyeon, who had called Park Dong-ha a little while ago. The calls coming in this way were often much more secretive and important, so I didn’t miss them unless absolutely necessary.

“Okay, boss. Let’s go to the cart now.”

Jo Seong-hyeon followed the backs of Park Yong-hoon and his men as they followed their secretary, and took out his cell phone.

“What is this?”

Only a few people know this number, but a messenger message arrived from an unknown account.

‘As a token of my gratitude to CEO Jo Sung-hyun, a small gift…’ Jo Sung-hyun clicked on the chat window without thinking after seeing his name floating in the preview, and his face instantly turned pale.

“Fuck… what… what is this.”

Jo Seong-hyeon reflexively and madly turned down the volume of the video.

Sex video. However, it wasn’t a sex video that only showed the other person that Jo Sung-hyun himself had filmed. Since it was an enlarged version of the original that only showed Jo Sung-hyun’s part, the image quality wasn’t that great, but it was clear enough that anyone could tell that the man in the video was Jo Sung-hyun.

It was easy to guess who the sender of the video was. Jo Sung-hyun’s mouth twisted violently and his cheeks twitched.

“Understanding. This fucking kid… is going to do it anyway?”

Tiring. Tiring. Tiring… Tiring.

It was then that the notification sounds of incoming messages were heard sequentially from the cell phones of Jo Seong-hyeon and his group, who were walking a few steps ahead.

Jo Seong-hyeon clearly felt what it felt like to have his blood run cold.

My hand holding the cell phone was shaking. I could do nothing as I watched the inspirations take their phones out of their pockets.